North Carolina votes to ignore studies showing rising sea level

Here’s one way to protect yourself from sea-level rise but still live on the coast — move to North Carolina, where the state legislature has voted to ignore any studies that suggest it’s a growing threat.

Yes, for the first time since King Canute the Great (c.995-1035), politicians in the Tarheel State are drawing a line in the sand to stop the tides.

Without wanting to go into too many details and make environmentally conscious Bay Area heads explode, suffice it to say that scientists advising the North Carolina’s Coastal Resources Commission estimate sea levels along the state’s resort-lined coast could rise 39 inches by 2100. By comparison, during the 20th Century they rose an average of 8 inches.

The state senate modified the full head-in-sand approach by placing a four-year moratorium on planners making land-use decisions based on anything but prior rates. Leaving time for, you guessed it, another study.

Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue hasn’t yet said if she will veto the legislation. For the record, 11 of her 19 vetoes this year have been overriden by the thoroughly Republican legislature. As for Pres. Obama, can’t wait for the diplomatic comments when he touches down in North Carolina next month for the Democratic National Convention.